PREP-RACE UPSETS LEAVE KENTUCKY DERBY WITH NO CLEAR FAVORITE

Uncle Mo

Following, the Gold Cup, the Kentucky Derby is broadcast at Great Meadow.  This makes sense since the Kentucky Derby is the second most important horse race in America on the first Saturday each May.

So if you are planning to attend the Gold Cup and you want to impress your friends, date, boyfriend, girlfriend an/or spouse, you need to know about the horses running in the "most exciting two minutes in sports."

According to CBS news, this year’s Kentucky Derby is still a wide open affair:

Like twin pole stars, the spires of venerable Churchill Downs point the way to glory. In the shadow of those spires, a frantic field of 3-year-old thoroughbreds will run for the roses.

It's the fastest two minutes in sports, and this year the favorite is...?

It was supposed to be a big bay colt named Uncle Mo. He was undefeated and a prohibitive favorite in Saturday's Wood Memorial. Owner and entrepreneur Mike Repole kissed his Italian grandmother for luck, then settled in with 100 of his best buddies for the inevitable.

His Airness

But Uncle Mo turned into slow-Mo, passed by not one, but 2 horses down the stretch.

"Hey, ya know, it's like Michael Jordan used to score 50 a game and sometimes he'd score 15. Sometimes horses and athletes have bad days. This is a bad day," Repole said after the race.

That was not the case for another favorite, Toby's Corner. The chestnut colt came from sixth place to stun Uncle Mo and the rest of the racing universe. Before that race, his owners hadn't even considered a trip to the derby.

"I mean this, it was such a wonderful - to think this could happen - I can't stop laughing. It's such a wonderful feeling," said Diane Cotter, Toby's Corner's owner.

#6 Midnight Interlude

In another upset in California, Midnight Interlude surged at the finish at Santa Anita to produce another surprise derby contender as others fell by the wayside.

Second favorite, Premier Pegasus, is out with a fractured canon bone. Jaycito went down with an abscess, though he could recover in time for the derby.

If Uncle Mo's camp is looking for solace they might consider this: the last big-time favorite to lose so badly at the Wood was a horse known as Big Red - Secretariat.

Secretariat

Keep an eye on the Virginia Blog Cup and we will keep you up to date on all the probable Kentucky Derby starters.  Look for a full update on Monday!